Page 93 of Escape Velocity
He was expecting some variation of a hornet or a wasp to represent Montgomery, but Callum’s choice of a raven feels more like… him. He’s a misunderstood creature, and as a plus, it matches his hair.
Craig squints his eyes as he sizes Mason up. He gives Mason his usual goofy smile. “I like your costume, man. Suits you well. But I don’t know what that squiggly thing is on your chest.”
Mason opens his mouth but is interrupted. “It’s pi, you know, the Greek letter?” Callum says to Craig.
Craig’s eyes bulge and his mouth forms an “o” as realization hits him. “Whoa! A pi-rate! That’s genius!” Craig exclaims, clapping Mason’s shoulder, hard.
“Ow,” Mason mutters as he rubs it after.
“The gladiator of all people should know all about Greek letters,” Jenna comments as she sizes Craig up in his costume.
Craig frowns. “Gladiators were Roman, not Greek.”
Jenna presses her lips together in embarrassment.
“Touché,” she says, running a hand through her hair.
Craig chuckles. “I may not be smart… but I’m not as much of a...”
He gestures to her skeleton costume and then knocks on her head gently. “Bone. Head. As you think.”
Jenna guffaws at Craig’s pun. Mason even chuckles himself.
Callum shakes his head and pats Craig’s arm and shakes his empty cup in front of him. “Can you fill ‘er up for me?”
Craig nods emphatically. “This gladiator lives to serve.”
He takes off and Callum smiles at him and Jenna.
“I like the costume. It’s very… calculated,” Callum comments.
Mason slaps Jenna’s shoulder. “See? He’s theonlyone who’s understood this costume all night. What the hell is going on? Does no one care about pi anymore? Do circles mean nothing to people? Or trigonometry?” Mason rants, throwing his hands in the air.
Jenna and Callum laugh.
Mason squints. “Judge all you want, but none of you wouldexistwithout pi.”
Callum looks behind him to see if anyone’s watching, no one is, so he quickly pecks Mason on the lips, shielded by his raven wings.
Mason blushes.
“You’re cute,” Callum mutters, a small smile on his lips.
Jenna smirks as she takes a sip of her beer. “My teeth arerotting from sweetness, and it’s not because of the Halloween candy.”
Mason scoffs and nudges her.
Her face drops, and she lowers her cup as she looks past Mason and Callum.
Mason follows her gaze and his stomach churns as he sees Joel approaching them.
He looks between all of them at their costumes. “Pirate and skeleton… makes sense.”
He glances between Callum and Mason. “Pirate and raven… don’t see it, sorry.”
Callum rolls his eyes to face Joel.
“It’s not a group costume,” Mason retorts.
